


Unstable

by teeslover



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, OC Villains, Robin gets powers, everyone is shook, lots of experiments happening, people die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 13:18:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13008633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teeslover/pseuds/teeslover
Summary: When Robin is found after having gone M.I.A a few days ago, the team and, of course, the League are relieved. Turns out a mysterious scientist was experimenting on him the whole time. What could have happened? A Robin with powers fic.





	1. Alarm

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of my ongoing fics on fanfiction.net, I wanted to share it with you guys on here too! :) I update really really slow, but I'm already 5 chapters in now, so you don't have to wait too long!

The first time Robin woke up, everything hurt. Especially his head. It wasn't like searing pain that made you wish you could just drop dead. No, it was more like a dull, throbbing pain. One that if you didn't focus on it so much, you might forget it was ever there. But Robin saw nothing and no one in this world, so what else could he focus on but the pain? He did, however, find it a little odd that it was so very empty here, so very quiet, and so… white.

Wait, hold on, white? No, no, it was just fog. Where the hell was he?

Robin took a deep breath and calmed his nerves, before he even had a chance to freak out. He suddenly found something more important to concentrate on His mind felt hazy as he stood up, nearly falling over. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, color breaking through the white.

He was wrong, the world wasn't blank and foggy, that was just him. His vision must've needed a little time to get used to the light… Hang on, where was that light coming from? Robin's eyes widened as he jumped out of the way of a car that came speeding down the road, honking all the way.

The loud sound seemed to break his stupor and clear a pathway in his clouded mind. Now that he could think clearly, Robin took in his surroundings. He was standing in the dirt, leaves and twigs were scattered on the floor… he was in the woods. But where exactly?

He put his hand up to his ear, expecting to find his com link, but there was nothing there. He tried for his utility belt, but that was gone, too. In fact, all of his gadgets were nowhere to be found. He looked down at his clothes. He was wearing his civvies, but that didn't really help at the moment. Unless he had his cell phone… Nope, missing, too. Well, I guess the walk could help clear my mind. Following the car that almost ran him over, Robin trudged along the side of the road, trying to remember something, anything, that could help clue him in on his location. The last thing he could recall was that the team was about to board the bioship after a successful mission, when something exploded and there was screaming and he felt a literal shock to his system, then nothing. But didn't that happen just yesterday? It was Bialya all over again, though, he doubted it had been six months.

After walking for a couple miles, he finally found a pay phone near a gas station. Making a collect call to the Wayne household, Robin relaxed a little bit knowing Bruce could help fill in the blanks.

"Hello? Wayne residence." A voice answered, which he figured belonged to Alfred, but it sounded uncharacteristically distressed and exhausted.

"Alfred?" His voice sounded foreign to him, small and timid. It made him sound like a little boy.

"This is he. May I ask who's calling?"

Robin cleared his throat before speaking again. "It's me, Dick. Umm, is-"

He was cut off by a gasp on the other side. "Master Richard?! Where are you? Master Bruce has been worried sick!"

Ok, maybe it's been longer than he thought. "I don't know. I'm at a Kingston gas station somewhere along the side of the woods. I mean, I think I'm still in Rhode Island, not so sure if it's still Happy Harbor. Alfred, what happened? I can't remember anything."

"Don't go anywhere, Master Richard, I'll notify Master Bruce and your team right away."

Robin heard footsteps running away from the phone, figuring Alfred must've left it off its cradle, not hanging up on him. Robin did the same with the payphone, letting it dangle from its cord. If he kept it connected, it'd be easier to triangulate his location.

A couple minutes later, a foreign thought and female voice resonated in his head.

_"Robin, is that really you?"_

_"M'gann? Yeah, it's me. Coming to get me?"_ If she was able to find him, they must not be too far away; he was still in the Martian's range.

_"Oh, you're ok! You haven't moved from the phone, right? We'll be there in two minutes!"_

Leaning on the pole, Robin waited. True to her word, the bioship came into view two minutes later. As it landed and the hatch opened, Robin saw the concerned, but relieved expressions of the team and Batman. He couldn't really see Bruce's face, he had his cowl on, but it probably looked like everyone else's.

He walked towards them, a smile spreading across his face, before pain started to creep its way into his brain. He dropped to his knees, groaning and clutching his head. It suddenly felt like his body was burning, even though it was around 50 degrees out. He heard someone scream. Wait, was that coming from him? Then he heard Kaldur shouting a command, something about calling ahead to get the med bay ready? He felt someone's arms catch him before he fell to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

 

The second time Robin woke up, he saw white light. Then, as the glare subsided, his eyes focused on the people surrounding him. They were saying something he couldn't quite make out. He tried to sit up to hear and see better, but his arms were being held down to something hard. A cold, steel, operating table. A man then turned and whispered something, grabbing a syringe. _Third time's the charm?_

He felt a hand grab his arm roughly, then a large needle was inserted into the crook of his elbow. At first, it felt like his whole body was convulsing, then it felt as if he was tearing his own insides out. The pain was excruciating. And then, as fast as it had come, the pain was gone. The feeling after was… peaceful. Euphoric, even. He heard a long, flat, beeping tone in the background, before his eyes fluttered closed.

_We're losing him, give me 10 CCs of adrenaline! He's still out, charge the defibrillator to 300! Clear!_

Robin shot straight up with a gasp, breathing hard. He blinked a few times, a familiar figure sitting close becoming clear. "Bruce?"

"Dick?" The Dark Knight, still in his suit, rushed forward, pulling the other in close. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Nope, you're still stuck with me." They both laughed and Bruce let go, giving Dick the once-over twice. "What happened? I just have these huge gaps in my memory."

"When we came to find you, you were walking up to us, but suddenly passed out. Let me get the team in here and maybe we can help piece it all together." He handed Dick his sunglasses and allowed him to sit up before leaving to get everyone else.

"Robin!" M'gann shouted, with both her and Artemis tackling him with hugs.

"It's good to see you are all right, my friend." Kaldur put his hand on Robin's shoulder, a smile gracing his features. Conner did the same, even draping his arm around the smaller boy.

Wally came in last, his eyes lighting up with happiness at seeing his best friend. He ran up and gave Robin a tight hug, an actual tear escaping from his eye. "Thank God you're not dead."

"Nice to know you had so much faith in me." Robin said sarcastically, breaking away from the redhead.

"Before we found you, what's the last thing you can remember?" Batman's gruff voice interjected, bringing everyone's attention back to the problem.

"Umm…" The boy closed his eyes, massaging one side of his head, as if that would help. "We were investigating some lab scientist whose experiments and team suddenly went underground or something and some stuff exploding and that's it."

"That's all?" Wally exchanged glances with the rest of the team. "Rob, that was 4 days ago."

"Four days? What did I do?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. But, dude, we found you. Let's try to not focus on the negative right now."

"Wally, I can't just let it go. I mean, what if there's something seriously wrong with me?"

"I didn't say you had to let it go. Just… don't make it your priority right now. We'll figure it out, all of us, together. We just got you back, I think we need a little celebration."

"Go. He's right, don't worry about it right now." Batman agreed, sending his ward off with his friends. "I'll inform you of anything I find."

Robin sighed, giving in to their request. "Ok, what'd you guys have in mind?"

"Oh, you can try out this new recipe one of my friends gave me! By the way, what exactly is haggis?" M'gann squealed, before frowning at her teammates disgusted faces. "What? Or we could go out for pizza?"

"I second that!" Wally yelled, racing out of the med-bay as the rest of them followed.

Once they had all gone, Batman pulled up a communication link to Superman. When the rest of the League found out Robin was safe, they all wanted to find him, but were persuaded not to. However, Batman had had to promise to keep them informed on the situation.

"But he's all right? Still the same Boy Wonder?" Superman inquired.

"Yes, but something's up, Clark. His vitals are good and he doesn't have any visible injuries. Physically, he's in perfect health."

"So then what's the problem?" "He passed out screaming when we found him. What could have caused that? And those four days. What could he have done?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D
> 
>  
> 
> Keep reading if you like!


	2. Sp3cimen

"Nightmares?"

"None."

"Soreness?"

"Non-existent."

"Headaches?"

"Never had 'em. Except for the one. Look, Alfred, it's been a week, and I'm obviously perfectly fine. So can't you just clear me?" Dick fidgeted in his spot on his bed, looking very antsy. "I mean, the team just doesn't function well without me. Roy told me he was this close to murdering every one of them yesterday… and he's only been with them for two days."

"Master Richard, I am just being thorough. You're lucky Master Bruce is letting you back this early. Now, maybe if you could stop squirming for a minute, I can finish quicker."

Dick huffed, but sat still long enough for the older man to check his vitals and finish the routine check-up. "Great, are we done? Can I go to the Cave now?"

"One more thing. Your memories?"

"Still nothing. I'm working on it, promise. But, right now, it's about time I get out of this lonely mansion." Dick jumped off the bed, grabbed his sunglasses, and ran for the door.

"Give them my best regards!" Alfred yelled after the stumbling boy.

"You got it! Thanks, Alfie!"

* * *

"I'm soo-oo-oo bored!" Wally spread himself out on the couch, feet landing in Roy's lap. "When is Dick coming back? Batman said give it a few days… its already been a week!"

"Wally, if you don't get these hideous things out of my face, you're gonna get-"

"He's  _The Boy Wonder_! He's been through worse, hasn't he?" Wally cut off the other ginger's threat, curling up into a fetal position and falling off the couch. "Am I being selfish? Should I be more worried? Maybe more patient? I just want my best friend back, is that too much to ask!?" He jumped up, putting too much weight on his bad foot, immediately falling over. "Oww!"

"Oh, put some ice on it and suck it up! Crybaby." Roy walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of peas from the freezer. He threw the bag at the wailing speedster. "That was your own fault, so stop whining about it. Look, I want him back, too. Then I won't have to deal with you guys anymore, but he can't be Robin if he's not in perfect health, so just wait, ok?"

"Fine. But how much longer do you think-"

" _Robin, B01,"_  the computer announced, interrupting him.

Wally perked up and spun around to watch the entry way, getting ready to attack his friend, even though he would likely be limping the whole way. "Is that him? That's him, right? You heard the computer, it said Robin."

"Yes, I heard it. Calm down." Roy knelt down next to Wally, pulling him up into a sitting position and laying the neglected peas on his right ankle.

"Where is he?"

"What are you guys looking at?"

"AHHH!" Wally screamed, turning back around to meet the unexpected guest. "Dick! I mean, Rob! You're back!" He stood up quickly, pain shooting up his leg. "Oww, stupid foot. Well, don't just stand there, smirking like the Joker, get over here!"

Robin rolled his eyes and smiled, pulling both redheads into a hug. "You doing ok?"

"Oh, yeah. I just twisted my ankle when I… when I saved Artemis from her death earlier this week. Yep, you know me, always the hero."

"I was actually talking to Roy, hero. You're lucky he didn't actually kill you when he had the chance." Robin turned his attention to the archer. "Didn't lose your mind, did you?"

"Yes, I did." Roy ruffled up the smaller boy's hair. "How do you deal with it everyday? The constant fighting with this one and the kitchen disasters! Kaldur had to retreat to the pool almost every day… He was literally the only person I could have a conversation with without something exploding within 2 minutes. But, other than that, it was great. How are you doing?"

"Everything's good. Surprisingly. You'd think something was seriously wrong with me after I disappeared for a few days and can't remember any of it, but… nothing." Robin smiled, though it didn't come off as very happy.

"Hey, we'll figure it out. Don't worry." Wally assured him, punching him on the shoulder.

"I know. So what really happened to your ankle?"

Roy jumped in before Wally could even get a syllable out. "Oh, yeah, it happened this morning. Like, 3 hours before you got here. He had a lot of pent-up energy, so he ran around the Cave and then tripped over his own feet. Then he fell down some stairs."

"Roy, shut up!" Wally turned a shade of red brighter than his hair. "I was just excited because Robin was coming back!"

"You didn't know I was coming." Robin crossed his arms, an amused glint in his eye.

"Yeah, Wally, you were just whining about it, like, 10 minutes ago."

"You know what, I should've known you two were gonna gang up on me like this!" Wally turned away from them and pouted in his spot.

Robin clapped his hands on Wally's shoulders. "If I made you some cookies, would that make up for it?"

"Oh my God, peanut butter? Yes, yes, a million times yes! And you should do it now, before everyone else comes back from the mall."

"Alfred already baked you a plate. He says hi, by the way." Robin pointed to the silver platter filled with cookies that had mysteriously appeared on the table.

"Has that been there the whole time? How did I not notice that? Whatever, I don't care, oh, I love you!" Wally ripped the plastic wrap off and started devouring the sweet dessert.

Roy took them away before he could eat every last one. "Ok, leave some for the rest of us."

Tears welled up in the speedster's eyes as he slowly nibbled the remaining cookies in his hands. But Roy was having none of that, so he walked away to safely put in on the kitchen counter, away from Wally's grubby hands.

"Oh, ok, just take my happiness away from me!" Wally pulled himself onto the couch and motioned for Robin to sit next to him. "If it wasn't for this wretched ankle, I would've run so far away by now, taking your cookies with me."

"Does it really hurt that bad?"

"No, only when I put weight on it. But still, Kaldur pulled me off any missions we might have for at least the next couple days."

"Maybe I can help. I've gone through my fair share of physical therapists to pick up a couple things." Robin gently massaged his friend's ankle, relieving some of the tension. Then, out of nowhere, he felt an odd tingling reaching his fingertips. His hands felt really warm, but the rest of his body was growing colder with each passing second. He stopped moving his hands, the tingling spreading from the tips, until his fingers were just numb.

"Rob, did you hear me?" Wally snapped his fingers in front of the other's face to get his attention. "Hey."

Robin pulled his hands away, the tingling disappearing as fast as it had come. "What?"

"I said tell Alfred thanks for the cookies, even though I didn't get to eat them all." He moved his ankle in a circle. "Wow, that feels a lot better, thanks, bud."

"Yeah, no problem." Robin stuck his hands in his pockets, slightly shivering from the sudden cold, then his body felt normal again.

Before he had a chance to think about it anymore, the computer announced the arrival of his other teammates. He braced himself for the squeals and the hugs he was about to get, and boy, did he get those. M'gann presented him with a new red hoodie that she thought would've fit him perfectly. Then she hugged him some more. "I'm so glad you're back!"

The rest of the team did the same, albeit a bit more controlled. Not the clothes part, the showing affection part, which was a good thing, because Robin didn't think he could deal with 4 new pieces of clothing that looked exactly like his current wardrobe, but it's the thought that counts, right?

Their reunion was cut short when Batman and Black Canary came swooping in to assign a new mission. "Team, suit up, we have something we need you to investigate." The Dark Knight's glare settled on his partner, who had wobbled slightly when the support of his friends had left him. "Robin, are you up for this?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry, I just got a little light-headed."

"If you're not ready, Red Arrow can continue to be a temporary member." Canary offered, casting the youngest a worried glance.

"No, I got the all clear. I'm good for this. Besides, Red Arrow was coming anyway, especially since Wally hurt his foot."

"I'm ok, actually." Wally piped up from the background, jumping from foot to foot. "I don't know what you did, Rob, but there's no more pain. Watch." He ran in the direction of his room and came back fully dressed in his suit. "Team's back together! Oh, plus Mr. Grumpy Archer."

"All right, so here's what we've got."

* * *

**| In an undisclosed location**

"So how is our subject doing?" A woman with a clipboard strode up to the group of computers with a spread of diagrams and stats. She turned to one of the workers. "Not dead yet, then?"

"He experienced great pain when he was found by his teammates, but other than that, perfect health."

"Any reactions besides the primary?"

"Not that I can tell. He passed out the first day, nothing to report since then. But there has to be a connection between our last experiment and when he was found."

"Late reaction?"

"Maybe. We can't know for sure until he uses it again."

"Well, let's give him something of a stimulant." She pushed a button on the dash, connecting her to a team of their own. "Omega 2, deploy. Lead them to the warehouse. Let's see if we can't stir up some memories and speed things up. Oh, and no killing. Just injure them for now."

"If it doesn't kill him, we might've just found the perfect specimen."

"Hmm, let's hope so. Boss is getting tired of the failures. And I don't want to have to keep hiding the bodies. Keep me posted."


	3. Remain to Be Seen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do this weird thing in this chapter where I keep switching between their real and codenames a lot, but I get better at it later, so just work with me for this chapter. :D

"I think that's it." The bioship hovered near the entrance of a seemingly abandoned factory. Robin pulled up his holographic computer to confirm their location. "Yep, that's where the trail ends. Head over there. We can hide the bioship near the back."

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem all that suitable for a large underground operation, if it even is that." Wally remarked as the team exited the ship and followed their resident hacker to a large, lone warehouse. "I mean, you'd think there'd be, like, guards or something. At least, some sign of activity. How'd you even find this place?"

"Whatever this is left a trail of breadcrumbs that Bats thought was a little too obvious to ignore. I would explain it to you, but all you'd hear is a bunch of computer crap you can't actually comprehend, so just trust me, ok?" Robin retorted, trying to pick the lock on the doors.

"Too obvious? It didn't cross your mind that this might be a trap?" Artemis jumped in, keeping her eyes trained on the area surrounding them.

"Oh, this is definitely a trap. You can relax, by the way. This factory was decommissioned years ago and closed off to the public. There's not gonna be any random kids running around. It's basically nonexistent in their minds. What we're looking for is inside… I think."

"What do you mean you think? Do you even know what's in there?"

"That's what we're investigating, isn't it?" Wally yawned, but stopped short as another realization dawned on him. "Wait, this is a trap? You didn't think this was dangerous in any way?! Does Batman know?"

"Would you calm down? Obviously, he knows! We're here to find out who set it and why were they so insistent on us finding them. Besides, how dangerous could it possibly be?" The lock clicked open. "Got it! Shall we go in and find out? Or do you want to reschedule our break-in for later?"

"Geez, someone's sarcastic today." Roy stepped up to the doors, about to pull them open, when he turned to Kaldur. "You're the leader. In or out?"

"Let's go, but we pull out the second things start going wrong, got it? Get ready." Kaldur commanded, pulling out his weapons as the others did the same. "Open it."

"It's too dark to see anything in here," Wally complained, running his hands against the walls, trying to find a switch. "Did you guys find anything?"

"Umm, I think that's a box up there." M'gann replied, about to walk further in, before she let out a shriek and suddenly fell forwards.

Superboy went to her side immediately. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sorry, I think I just tripped on something. Wally, could you find a light switch or something?"

"I'm trying, sweet cheeks, but all I'm getting is wall… Oh, wait, found one." His hand lingered over it.

"Well, turn them on, idiot!" Artemis flicked his ear and flipped the switch herself while Wally rubbed the sore spot. She put her hands up to her mouth as the lights flickered on. Even in the dim light the bulbs provided, she could clearly see the contents of the warehouse. Two rows of black bags were lined up perfectly on the concrete floor. "Oh my God. Are those… body bags?"

M'gann looked at the thing she tripped on and let out a horrified gasp at the bit of blonde hair she saw peeking out. "There's someone in this one!" She unzipped it even further, revealing a young girl, no older than 16, peering up at her with blank eyes. "She's dead." M'gann stood up shakily and held onto Superboy's strong frame. She let out a few shaky breaths and kept her back to the rest of the warehouse. "Please tell me the rest of them are empty."

Wally ran to one of the rows and began unzipping the closest bag. There was a young boy inside, the same blank stare in his eyes. He put his hands to the boy's eyelids and pushed them closed, then zipped the bag closed again. "There must be at least 10 bodies in here."

M'gann cried into Conner's arms as Kaldur went up to Artemis and gave her a tight hug as she buried her face into his chest.

"How long have they been here? How long have their families suffered, not knowing?"

"I do not know. But we will make sure they receive a proper burial."

"What kind of monster would do this?" Conner asked between shaky breaths, punching a nearby wall.

Roy and Wally checked some of the other bags, the same result with each one. They shut every person's eyes and vowed to take down whoever did this to them and find their families closure.

"We can't know how long they've been in here because their bodies have been preserved." Everyone's eyes went to Robin, who still stood near the entrance, like he was glued to that spot. "That's why they're not rotting. And why there's that formaldehyde smell in the air. It works like an embalming fluid. This is where they kept them."

"They? Rob, who's they?" Wally went to his friend's side, who looked like he'd gone into some weird trance, staring off into space. "Do you know who did this?"

"No. Sorry, I just feel like… have we ever been here before?"

"Don't you think we would remember if we had!?" Artemis snapped, before she saw Robin flinch and immediately softened. "Sorry, this just sickens me, but I shouldn't be taking it out on you."

"Maybe you're remembering something. Maybe this is connected to what happened to you," Roy suggested.

Robin scanned the room. "I don't know, I feel like there's something there and it's right there, but I just can't place it." His eyes caught something in the shadows in the little room upstairs.  _We're being watched,_ he thought, hoping that M'gann remembered to establish a psychic link between them before they had gone in. Fortunately, she did and everybody tensed, reaching for their weapons.

 _No, don't move._ Robin nodded slightly towards the boxes and crates scattered throughout the warehouse.  _Head for cover, got it? If they're the ones who did this, they won't have any problems getting rid of us. Whenever you're ready, Aqualad._

"Now!" Their leader yelled and the team dove behind the boxes as arrows whizzed past them in the air.

"So I guess it's safe to assume that they were expecting us?" Artemis yelled, stringing up an arrow of her own and shooting blindly into the shadows. "Got a plan?"

Before anyone could respond, a woman in a black suit stepped into the light. She held her hand up, signaling her men to stop shooting. "Ease up, boys, we don't our young heroes to get the wrong idea about us, do we? You guys can come out, we don't want to hurt you."

"Right, because the dead bodies are such a testament to your good intentions." Roy shouted back, keeping his bow string taut and his back to a crate.

"Now, now, let's not jump to conclusions. Some of them were already dead, or at least close to it. We merely, how do I put this… put them to good use. Our employer made sure of that. The others, well, you can't be successful without a few complications in the plans, right? Collateral damage. I apologize for my team's methods, but we really just came to-."

"I don't give a crap about who you people are or what you want. What gives you the nerve to refer to living, breathing people as 'collateral damage'? What makes you think you could just get away with this?!" Wally accused them and, in his rage, forgot all about the men aiming weapons at them, and stepped out from behind the crate to confront the woman.

"Aww, does Flash Jr. want to get revenge for kids he's never even met? That's so sweet, so heroic," the woman teased. Her lips twitched and her mouth tilted into a sly smile. "So sweet that it kinda makes me want to shoot you." She raised a long, blue fingernail, pointed at Wally's chest and flicked her finger up, like a gun going off. "Bang." As soon as she said the word, an arrow was shot out of nowhere, heading straight for the speedster.

Time seemed to slow down as the arrow's point hit its target as someone called out Wally's name behind him. The woman smirked and started to retreat. "Hmm, well, that didn't work out how I thought it would, but it should get the same result. Sorry to ruin that revenge plan of yours, but we got what we came for. 'Till we meet again, kids!"

Conner ran after them, but they disappeared in a blinding flash of light, without a trace. "Where'd they go?!"

"Are you guys ok?!" M'gann called, bringing the clone's attention back to his injured teammate.

Wally rolled Roy off him, ripping out the arrow imbedded into the archer's side. "I'm ok! Roy, are you a freaking idiot? You pushed me out of the way, but you were dumb enough not to move!?"

"Can't you just say thanks!?" Roy snapped, pressing a hand to where the arrow pierced his side. "God, that hurts!" He fell backwards as Artemis caught him and laid him back down. "Now I know how all those bad guys felt when I put on of these into them." He let out a small laugh, which led to a groan.

"Miss Martian, call the bioship, we have to get him back to the Cave. And fast." Kaldur, not missing a beat, commanded. "Roy, keep pressure on that wound."

"Yeah, I know what to do, thanks. Just make sure I don't go into shock from blood loss or something." Roy squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think about anything else but the pain. "What about the bodies?"

"We'll send the League for them. Right now, let's focus on getting you back still intact." Moments later, the gentle roar of the bioship was heard outside, as M'gann led it closer to them. Conner and Wally propped Roy up on their shoulders, slowly lowering him onto the floor of the ship. "Artemis, call Red Tornado."

"Set up the med bay, already on it!" Artemis responded, calling the Cave with her com link. She threw the first aid kit to Kaldur, so he could do the best he could at the moment. The engines roared as M'gann urged the ship to go as fast as she could manage.

Amidst all the chaos, Robin watched from the background, foreign images flipping through his mind. He held his head in his hands, trying to understand while simultaneously trying to not freak out over his friend's situation. He let out a frustrated groan as none of the pieces seemed to fit together.

"We're almost there, just hold on!" M'gann's panicked voice rang out, bringing Robin's attention back to Roy.

He stared at the wound, his head tilting curiously at the sight of blood seeping through his friends' fingers. He glanced down at his own hands. He felt the tingling from earlier and shivered from a sudden chill that ran through his body. "Move out of the way." Robin said, as he knelt down near Roy's body and pushed everyone else's hands away.

"What are you doing?" Conner asked, sharing a confused expression with the rest of the team.

"I don't know, but it seems…. right." Robin ignored Roy's sounds of worry and protest as he placed his hands over the archer's torso. His hands went numb, like a surge of energy just left it. It felt as if his entire body was locked in a freezer, but his hands were in an entirely different, warmer, place.  _That's it, don't stop until you're empty. Until it feels like your hands have been stuck over an open flame. Until your body feels like it'll shut down from the cold. Don't stop._ Robin immediately pulled back with a gasp, stumbling into Wally's arms. "What just happened?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing, Rob." Roy removed his bloody hand from his side. "There's no more pain, no more blood. What did you do?"

The entire team had their eyes on him, expecting an answer that Robin didn't know himself. "I don't… I don't know. It was like… like my body knew what to do without telling my brain."

"We're here," M'gann announced, opening the ship's entryway to find a worried Black Canary waiting with a stretcher to take Roy to the medical ward. "He doesn't need that anymore," the Martian explained, looking back to the entrance as Roy walked out, using Conner's shoulder as a little bit of support.

"What happened?" Batman demanded, as he appeared from the hall behind Canary.

"Yeah, we're not really that clear on that ourselves," Roy retorted, straightening as the final trace of any pain left his body. "We do know that something's definitely up with Robin."

As if on cue, the boy in question ambled out of the ship, looking confused and suddenly very pale. "Guy, I don't…" Robin's sentence was cut short as he collapsed onto the hard floor. The pictures in his head flickered quickly, like a badly cut movie, and he blacked out, hearing the frantic cries of his friends around him.


	4. Lost Things

"And that's when his hands started glowing," Roy blurted out. The team was giving Black Canary a recap of the mission while Batman got Robin situated in the medical ward. At Roy's outburst, everyone in the room turned their attention towards him. "What? Did you guys not notice that? When he started…umm, I don't know, healing me, I guess? There was like this really faint red glow above my wound. Tell me someone saw that so I know that I'm not going crazy."

"I didn't see a glow, Roy, did you guys?" Wally asked. The rest of the team exchanged confused glances and shook their heads. "Sure it wasn't, like, blood loss or something?

"It was there, Wally. I swear I saw it," Roy groaned in frustration. "You know what, it doesn't even matter. What matters is that I had a hole in my side, losing more and more blood by the second, and the next thing we knew, it was just gone." While everyone agreed that it had happened (their blood stained clothes proved it), they also knew they had no idea how.

"Wait, so are we thinking that Robin has… healing powers now?" Artemis questioned, sounding very skeptical of the conclusion herself. "Just out of the blue?"

"We have no idea what happened to him when he went missing for those four days," Kaldur added. "Surely it can't be a coincidence. But we may never know if Robin doesn't understand it himself."

"Hello, Megan!" M'gann hit the side of her head and smiled. "I can just read his memories and this whole mess can be sorted out!"

"Umm, I think that idea probably came to him a while ago. And if he hasn't asked about it, I'm not entirely sure he wants you to be rooting around in his head," Roy supplied, casting a wary glance towards the Martian.

"Well, why not? If I can find out what happened, wouldn't that answer all the questions we have?"

"We don't even know his real name, M'gann. There's probably a reason he doesn't want us delving into his personal thoughts." Artemis replied, coming up to her friend and squeezing her shoulders. "Good suggestion, though."

"So I guess we just wait for him to wake up then?" Conner asked, plopping down onto the couch.

"I guess so." Artemis followed suit as Black Canary left to relay the details to Batman.

* * *

Robin awoke in a white room, once again.  _Twice in one week? That's a new record._  He opened his eyes, quickly regretting it as he looked directly into a light, and squeezed his eyes shut. In the second they were open, though, he was pretty sure there was someone in the room with him. "Why is it so damn bright in here?" He asked aloud to the body, feeling it turn around swiftly.

"Dude, finally, you're awake. Bats has been worried sick. I mean, I think, you can't really tell, what with his… face and all." Robin recognized this voice as Wally, who had apparently somehow convinced Batman to get some rest as he took over watch. "So how are you feeling?"

Robin kept his eyes closed and propped himself up on his elbow, rolling his neck. "I feel like my head is getting slowly crushed in a nutcracker and like my eyes are going to blow up in their sockets. Please turn off the lights. Or dim them, or something."

"Oh, sorry, the exam table light is still on." Wally reached up to its switch and flicked it off. "Better?"

Robin slowly opened his eyes and quickly adjusted to the more tolerable amount of light in the room. "Yeah, thanks." There was a bit of silence before he spoke again. "I passed out again, didn't I? Wait! Where's Roy?"

Wally looked down and rubbed his neck. "Umm, he's not… He didn't make it, Rob."

Robin clutched his stomach, feeling like he was about to vomit at any second. "What?! No, no… I did something to him. I healed him. He wasn't bleeding anymore… He was ok!"

Wally flicked his eyes up and grabbed his best friend by the shoulders. "No, he's not. Whatever you did, it didn't work. You didn't save him. Just like the rest of us. You couldn't help any of us. We're all dead because of you."

"No, that's not true! I tried! I… I tried." The room started to spin as Wally began fading away. "Wally? No, no, I can save you. Hold on, please! Hold on!"

"Your best wasn't good enough." Wally growled before disappearing completely as the floor morphed into a pool of red.

 _You're their only chance. You have to help them. Do what you do best, hero, and help them!_ A voice echoed in Robin's head as he looked down to see his hands were drenched in blood. "Stop, I can't, I don't know what you want! I can't do it!" Images of kids being experimented on and disposed of sped in front of his eyes.

 _Such a waste_. The voice hissed again and Robin found himself clutching his head in an attempt to shut them out. "Stop! I can't do it… SHUT UP!"

"Dick!" His eyes shot open and he focused on the two concerned boys looming over him.

"Roy?" Robin threw his arms around the archer's shoulders. "You're ok…"

"Uhh, yeah, I am. All thanks to you, don't you remember?"

"I'm…having a little trouble processing, sorry." Robin pinched the bridge of his nose and kept his eyes closed. "Where's Batman?"

"He went with some of the League members to collect the bodies from the warehouse. He'll be back soon, I just told him you woke up." Wally answered, about to help Robin off the hospital bed. Robin flinched, turning away from the red-head. Wally immediately backed off, putting both hands up. "Sorry, I just wanted to help."

"No, it's fine, you're not doing anything wrong. I'm just… a little dizzy." Robin shook his head and took in a shaky breath. "Where's everybody else?"

"Living room. Waiting for you, if you're feeling up for it." Roy helped the younger boy to his feet, letting him lean on his shoulder for support.

"Yeah, sure, they're probably worried sick, right? Let's go." Robin ran both hands through his hair, feeling some sort of residue stick to his fingers. He took his hand out of his hair and examined it, looking to the other boys for an explanation. "Umm…"

Wally looked at Robin's hands and flicked his eyes to his head. "Oh, yeah, that's Roy's dried blood. We may have forgotten to wash it out…"

"Ugh, that is absolutely disgusting." Robin shook his hands, trying to get the dried bits of red off.

"Well, we weren't gonna, like, strip you down and give you a shower! We're your friends, but that's going a little far. Also, someone would've had to go in with you. And there was no way in hell Batman would have anyone besides himself-."

"Oh my god! Don't, don't even talk about that! Ok, I'm gonna go take a shower, you guys go wait with the team." Robin wriggled away from Roy, shuddering at the very thought of his mentor and surrogate father seeing him naked. At this age, anyway. Strangely enough, having Wally and/or Roy in a shower with him wasn't as disturbing a thought as it could've been.

"I'll go and grab some of your civvies for you. Now, do you want me to leave them outside, or can I walk in and hopefully catch a glimpse of your wet, glistening body?" Roy called to the retreating boy, who seemed to be out of earshot, but waved anyway as if to say  _whatever_. "Maybe he didn't hear that last part." He smiled mischievously and raised an eyebrow at Wally who bit his lower lip and winked suggestively. Roy rolled his eyes, but kept smiling. "Outside, it is."

Robin folded his suit up neatly and placed it on the sink, grabbing his favorite shampoo and conditioner from the cupboard. Stepping onto the cold linoleum, he pulled the curtain shut, and turned the shower on. He jolted when the nearly ice-cold water hit his back, but one it gradually grew warmer, he stood still under the water for a couple minutes, the hot pinpricks bombarding his back. Then he shut it off and squeezed a copious amount of shampoo into his hands and started to lather. Turning the water back on, he closed his eyes, feeling the suds slither down his body and collect at his feet, repeating the process with his conditioner and body wash. It felt soothing and Robin could feel himself relaxing for the first time in weeks.

Just as he was finishing up a final rinse, a sharp pain pierced his mind, shattering the euphoria he was in. Inhaling sharply, he put both palms on the wall in front of him in order to steady himself. The pain started to slowly dull until it felt like it did that day he woke up near the road.

Robin shook his head, breathing slowly until he could tolerate the throbbing in his head. Suddenly, a more intense pain burned through his head and settled behind his eyes. He squeaked as he squeezed his eyes shut and brought his hands up to his temples, trying anything to relieve the pain. He gasped as a flurry of images sped through his head again. This time, though, they all fit together and he watched helplessly as horrible memories started flooding back.

He saw kids, some younger, some older than himself. They were all strapped down to a metal table and injected with some sort of serum, but before much time passed, they all started convulsing, with the machine hooked up to them letting out a monotonous tone shortly after. Adults clad in surgical masks and lab coats frantically tried to revive the child every time it happened, but nothing ever worked.

Then Robin saw himself on the table, barely breathing, but alive. He had just come back from another room, where he failed to do something. But what was it? He couldn't remember. The next he knew, another needle was stuck in his arm and everyone was staring down at him.

"He didn't die, but his ability is not manifesting. He survived, it should work," one lab coat said to another.

"Well, try it again and again until it does," a woman commanded. A woman that Robin recognized. The one who shot Roy. "The boss will not be pleased if another one fails. He wants a specimen and this boy, the only one to survive so far, must be it. He has to be. We're running out of space to put the bodies and I, for one, am getting tired of cleaning up."

"So if…excuse me, when he wakes up and it works, what then?" The other scientist questioned, preparing another syringe of the formula.

"We let him go. To test him. Plus, it's been long enough, can't have his friends figuring anything out. Make sure we have a way to monitor him, especially the unknown side effects. But not with a bug or anything digital, they'll find it."

"How else could I possibly track him? A magic crystal ball?"

The woman smirked, yet somehow managed to look at her colleague derisively. "I'm sure you know by now our resident expert can whip something like that up. Hopefully, something smarter and less childish. Now, finish up."

Then, as quick as the "visions" had started, they disappeared, leaving just a little bit of throbbing. Robin breathed heavily and in short bursts as he moved to turn the running water off. Now that his hands were right in front of his eyes, he noticed that they had a slight aura around them, a sort of red glow. Ok, there was something definitely wrong.

Just like the other two times he had helped his teammates, his hands started to tingle and grow warmer and warmer. After a few seconds, it felt like he stuck his hands right over an open flame. Robin frantically turned the shower dial to the blue strip, the ice-cold water soothing the burning sensation in his hands. It didn't help that much and he found himself planting his hands onto the cool floor while the water cascaded down.

Finally, after what felt like hours had passed, the glowing started to dim and his temperature started to go back to normal. This time, however, instead of his body feeling like it was stuck in the frozen tundra, he was glowing.  _Well, that's new. Side effect, then?_ He turned the shower off, but just stayed sitting on the floor, inspecting his hands and losing any desire to get back up.  _Why is this happening to me?_

Then there was a knock at the door and Conner's rough voice reached his ears. "Robin? Batman and the others are back. Wally said to come and check if you had fallen asleep or something in here. It's been almost one hour."

That woke him up. "What?! I've been in here that long?"

"Yeah, you didn't feel it? You're usually the one telling us we're taking forever. You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, Conner. Tell everyone I'll be out in a minute." Robin pulled his towel down and stepped out, vigorously drying his hair.

"Your clothes are out here, too. Do you want me to give them to you or something?"

"No! Do not come in! Just leave, please, Con."  _Freakin' clone. Freakin' Wally._

Robin walked out to the main room, catching the last couple words Red Tornado told the team. "…working on finding out who their families are." Good. The families could get closure, at least.

"Finally! Robin, what took you so long?" Artemis jumped up, spotting him first. "How many times can a person actually rinse and repeat?"

"It takes time to get my hair silky smooth like this, ok? But I wouldn't expect you know, I mean, look at all that straw you call hair," Robin teased.

Artemis made an offended little noise as she gripped the end of her ponytail. But her smile quickly returned as she punched Robin on the arm. "Glad to see you're back to normal."

"Normal as ever." He then noticed everyone else was staring at him as Batman made his way over to his ward.

"We need to talk," the Dark Knight said in his usual gravelly voice. "Tell me again exactly what you remember."

"A lot more than before, that's for sure!" At everyone's puzzled expressions, Robin elaborated. "Something in me snapped or something in the shower, I don't know. But I have more details now, it's still not the whole picture, but I remember I was in this lab-." Robin trailed off as his gaze moved to Canary who hung back from the rest of them, shifting uncomfortably, holding her side. "Canary, you all right?"

The blonde heroine turned her attention to the boy and winced slightly. "It's nothing to worry about, Robin. Just another villain that hit a little too hard in the wrong place. I'll be fine, don't worry."

"Come on, you could have a bruised rib or something. Don't ignore injuries, no matter how small, right, Bats?" Robin tuned to his mentor who nodded and went over to Canary to assess the situation.

Before he knew what he was doing, Robin heard that little voice in his head to try again, and he was right in front of Batman, putting a palm to Canary's torso.

"Uhh, dude, what are you doing?" Wally asked, the rest of the team gathering around him.

"I'm supposed to help. Don't be scared," Robin droned out, feeling the warm sensation engulf his hands again. And then his hands were glowing. Once they had stopped, he dropped his hands and looked up at Canary.

Her eyes betrayed a mix of shock and fear. "There's no more pain. It was glowing. How did you do that?"

"I don't know, but I think I have a pretty good guess." Robin faced his team, locking eyes with M'gann. "But I'll need some help."

Batman put his hands on his ward's shoulders. "We'll need to run some tests."


	5. The Past Beats Inside

The team, including Canary and Batman, migrated over to the living room where Robin and M'gann could situate themselves for the mental probe. "So do me a favor and don't look past the last couple of weeks, I don't think Bats would be too happy with you seeing anything beyond that." Robin said, smirking at his mentor, before turning back to the Martian.

"Yeah, of course not! Just like Bialya… I'll be careful." She smiled back reassuringly. "It's just… are you sure you don't want Uncle J'onn to do this? He's much more experienced and I don't want anything to… go wrong."

"Positive." Robin plopped onto the couch, sitting cross-legged. "We're a team, M'gann, and I trust you. I mean, not that I don't trust J'onn, but, y'know… he probably has other things to worry about. Just relax, nothing's gonna happen."

"I feel like I should be telling you that." M'gann smiled brightly at him, joining him on the couch, and took his hands in hers. "Ok, deep breaths… and try to focus on anything you remember from the place you were in." She looked straight into his eyes, her own glowing with power. "And don't forget. Anything you see in there… it's not real. You're right here with all of us."

Robin closed his eyes and exhaled, recalling the visions he had just hours ago. He saw himself standing in a fog, a dreamscape of sorts, the images of the lab flickering past. They were still as vivid as when he first saw them, but this time, he could feel a familiar presence with him and allowed himself to relax. He heard M'gann in the back of his mind calling for him, trying to lead him through memories he didn't consciously know he had. Before he could start towards her voice, the fog instantly lifted.

Robin looked around at his new surroundings. The haze had given way to reveal a dilapidated room that looked like it belonged in an abandoned hospital of some horror game. There were a few rusty and broken medical instruments in the room, scattered on the counters and cot, vines tangling all around them. At the far left wall, someone stood facing the window, their back turned, seemingly unaware of the room's new arrival. The person, a boy dressed in all black, with a peculiar hairdo, set a hand on the large window. Tendrils spiraled from his fingertips, fracturing the glass in lightning bolt patterns.

Robin took a step forward, about to call out to this mysterious presence in his head, when that familiar voice echoed faintly behind him. "M'gann?" Robin spun around and whispered to the empty hallway, "Where are you?"

No response.

Robin turned back to the window, which had, in those few seconds he was distracted, completely shattered, letting in a slight breeze. The boy clapped his hands together and whooped, teeming with joy. "You finally figured it out," he sang, further distorting the windowsill and the room, as the vines had started to wilt and were turning unnaturally red.

 _Ooook, maybe I should get outta here…_ Robinbacked out as quickly and quietly as he could, keeping an eye on the boy, who still hadn't bothered to notice him. He found the doorframe and as he was about turn tail and run, the boy let out a loud cackle, causing the vines to crawl up the walls and crack them further. "Leaving so soon? You just found me!" As the boy slowly turned to face Robin, the room began to disintegrate around them, dissolving back to the foggy landscape they had started with. Before Robin could fully see the boy, the fog grew heavier and heavier until everything was hidden in a white shroud…

M'gann let out a strangled yelp as she pushed herself off the couch, clutching her head.

"M'gann! What happened?" Conner was by her side in seconds, with Canary not far behind to make sure she wasn't hurt. M'gann leaned on the clone to keep herself propped up. "It's ok, I'm fine. I just… got, like, a rude awakening." She shook her head a couple times and, after reassuring everyone, went back to Robin, still in a trance on the couch.

"What's wrong? Why didn't Robin wake up too?" Batman asked gruffly, a hint of concern seeping into his tone, not that the younger heroes would ever admit to hearing it.

Everyone turned to M'gann, her attention focused on Robin. "I don't know... I couldn't find him. It was like a maze in there, completely different from when I went in at Bialya."

"That might be due to the mental training J'onn has been giving him." Batman divulged, ignoring Canary's disapproving frown. "It had little to do with the team. After a few...incidents with Scarecrow, I wanted to make sure he could be safe in his own head."

"Well, even so," M'gann murmured, sitting back down to inspect him further. "It feels different in his mind, too different. When I came out, that wasn't from any of his defenses. It couldn't be."

"What do you mean?" Wally asked, putting his hands on Robin's shoulders, staring intently at his friend, resisting the urge to just shake him awake. "What, there's, like, someone else snooping around in there?"

"Or this might not even be Robin?" Artemis suggested, though she regretted even thinking that once Wally and Roy sent her glares that would rival the Batman's.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's definitely all him, but Wally might be right. " M'gann rubbed her temples, trying to recall what woke her up. "I saw… something in there with us. It… it was angry, like it thought I was invading or trespassing, which I was, but Robin knew that. This thing was… caught off guard. It  _pushed_  me out, it screamed at me to get out… and stay out." She flicked her eyes between the worried faces of her team. "I don't think I can get back in."

"So how are we gonna wake him up?" Conner wondered aloud, moving away from M'gann to kneel next to Wally. "Do we… splash him with water? Like they do on TV?"

Before anyone could respond to that, Robin's eyes snapped open and he jumped up, causing M'gann, Wally, and Conner to jump back in surprise, nearly colliding with each other. Kaldur was the first to approach Robin, still disoriented from the interrupted mind trip. "Are you alright?"

At his nod, Kaldur reluctantly backed away to give him and Batman a bit of room. "What happened in there?"

Robin looked right up at his guardian, his sunglasses hiding his concern. "I honestly have no idea." He glanced over at M'gann, who had untangled herself from the other two, and, along with Wally, was now rushing to meet him. The two of them grabbed his shoulders, their questions overlapping each other.

"Where were you? Did you see that thing in there with us? How did it force me out of  _your_  head?"

"Could you even hear us out here? Why didn't you wake up with M'gann? Artemis thought you weren't even you! Crazy, right?"

Kaldur went into leader mode, interrupting his teammates' onslaught, partly from fear of how Batman might react if someone didn't immediately intervene. "M'gann, Wally, slow down," he demanded, inserting himself between them. "We are just as intrigued as you are, but give Robin a chance to breathe."

"Right, right! Hello, Megan!" She thumped herself on the head and went to stand next to Conner. "Sorry, guys."

Wally stood off to the side with Roy, dejected. "Yeah, sorry, Rob. We just… got really worried for a second there."

"It's ok, I'm happy to see you guys. There was something  _definitely_ wrong in there."

"Perhaps this would be a good time for a debrief? See if anything the two of you separately found out correlates?" Canary requested, leading the team to the main room to take note of everything that happened.

Scanning the series of events Robin and M'gann had relayed, they made out what could be a somewhat cohesive map of what happened. "So… The two of you were in some foggy area, but while M'gann never found a way out of it before she got pushed out, you were stuck in some run-down hospital room straight out of  _Outlast_?" Roy summed up incredulously, reading through the notes again. "And this… boy you were with, Rob, you think he probably caused all of that?"

"Well, I barely had any control in there, so yeah, I would bet that was all his fault." Robin leaned back against a wall, running a few fingers through his hair, and sighed. "I thought this… healing thing was just some… weird science experiment. But now? Now I have, what, planted memories? Someone, or something, is sharing my head with me? I mean, what… what's wrong with me?"

"Robin, nothing is wrong with you. None of this is your fault." Batman walked over to his ward, bending down slightly and dropping his voice to a whisper. "Dick, look at me." Blue eyes peeked out from beneath the shades to meet the whites of his cowl. "We will find answers, I promise you that."

Robin gave his mentor a small smile that didn't look completely convinced. If Batman had noticed, he didn't push any further.

"Ok, so what does this all mean exactly?" Wally exclaimed, pulling attention back to him. "Who were the people that took Robin in the first place? I assumed they had something to do with the lab we were investigating a couple weeks ago, but with all this weird mind trip/magic stuff, maybe it's someone else entirely? And if this  _is_ all because of that lab, what's the connection here? How does that possibly explain every weird thing that's been going on?"

"Wait, maybe it can!" Robin offered, going over to the computer to pull up their older mission files. "I never did ask you guys what happened that day I went missing. And we got a little preoccupied before I could tell you what I saw in the shower."

"There's not that much to tell, honestly." Artemis piped up, helping Robin find the correct file. "It was a simple recon mission…"

* * *

"Now this facility spans a total of 68 acres, with 12 buildings and many more laboratories throughout. Each building focuses on a different-"

The tour guide's voice faded out as Conner walked back over to his team, who were all occupied with various pieces of equipment. "I don't like it here," he grunted, sticking close to the walls to avoid the excited kids.

Batman had sent the team undercover as student assistants and chauffeurs to some 6th graders on their science field trip. While they were just there to scope out the place and report back with anything out of the ordinary, that didn't mean they wouldn't make the most out of the trip.

"Lighten up, Con, this is the easiest mission we've had all week." Wally reprimanded, going over to one of the test microscopes. "I'm starting to get really sore just, like, in general, so don't ruin this for me, I love this place!"

Conner rolled his eyes, poking a slime model on the counter next to him. "What exactly are we supposed to be looking for again?"

"Nothing in particular. Batman said lab technicians have been disappearing over the last couple of years and no one's batted an eye." M'gann recalled, taking over the microscope Wally had left. "I guess we should try and find abandoned rooms, empty buildings, stuff like that."

"How would a high tech place like this not notice if an entire wing of their facility was suddenly shut down?" Artemis asked, crossing her arms. "If anything was even emptied out. They could've covered their tracks by altering records or blueprints, or kept hiring more people to replace the ones they lost?"

"Who's 'they'?" Wally asked, smirking at Artemis's sudden knack of coming up with conspiracy theories.

"I don't know! The lab… whoever took the missing techs, maybe they're in it together!"

"Who or whatever it could be, let's try to find something that could be of value, and fast. This is the last area of the tour." Kaldur reminded his team, trying his best to fake an interest for the scientific instruments around him. Human technology was never that impressive to him, he did live in an underwater city after all.

"Well, that was a bust." Robin sighed, reappearing behind Kaldur. "I asked around and all the personnel I could find all said that they've had no trouble, except for one out of control bacteria growth. This place is beyond normal, according to them. At least, there's nothing so weird that it would warrant any attention."

"Of course they would say that because they're not going to admit to it!"

Robin exchanged amused glances with Wally, who was still smiling. "Artemis, I really don't think they know anything."

"I'm just saying, we don't need a tour of what's open to the public. We need to make our own tour… find the restricted, 'way above their pay grade' employee areas."

"We'll have to do so later, this field trip is coming to an end." Kaldur motioned to the group of kids coming towards them with their guide, chattering excitedly.

Just as the head of the building came out to say her final thanks and goodbyes to the classes, a loud klaxon sounded in the hallway behind them. Groups of 6th graders clung onto each other as smoke started billowing in from under the door.

As the team and the teachers tried their best to herd all the kids out the exit door, a birght flash interrupted their rush, momentarily blinding everyone in the room.

* * *

"Once we opened the door, the smoke started to clear out, but that light didn't make things any easier." M'gann jumped in, zooming in on the camera footage that unfortunately only covered the exit door and a quarterway into the room.

"We made sure everyone got out, but after all the commotion, we turned around and you were just gone, Rob," Wally huffed, looking at his best friend. "We thought you had just gone off on your own again, but then we couldn't find you and no one remembered seeing you go anywhere. And then, four days later, you popped up at some road in Kingston… well, you know the rest."

Robin stared at the screen, deep in thought, while the rest of the team watched him silently. "What was the name of that lab?"

"The entire facility itself was called Alliance Technologies, Inc.," Batman offered.

"But that building had an different unofficial name because it was the biggest one and had the most labs." Conner added, shrugging off the confused looks everyone was giving him. "What? That's what the tour lady was saying. It was some weird science name. Like cilia or cilium or… silo..?"

"Cilix?" Robin gratefully finished for him.

Artemis snapped her fingers. "That's it! Yeah, I remember hearing something about that before we left. Wait, how did you know that?"

Robin turned to his team. "I saw that name too. Both in the vision I had earlier and in the dream hospital I was stuck in." He spun back to the computer, typing in the name. "I feel like we're missing something."

Roy traced his finger down the list of results. "Cilix, a genus of moth. Cilix Capital, Cilix IT department, what does this have to do with anything?"

Robin clicked a link, reading through it quickly. "There. Cilix… in Greek mythology, he was the son of Agenor and the brother of…"

"Cadmus," both Batman and Conner whispered at once.

**| Same undisclosed location**

"Boss man thinks we're running out of time. We'll need to speed up our schedule. Get the asset back now." The woman with the long, blue nails tapped irritatingly on the table. "And don't lead them back to the warehouse. It's burned."

A man at a computer desk typed in commands and coordinates to the deploying team. "Are you sure? The team is on high alert now, no doubt they're close to figuring it all out. He's not gonna just come back with us."

The woman looked down at him and sneered. "Obviously… We're going to make sure he has no choice." She spun back on her heels and trotted out the door to join the retrieval effort. "And I know just the way to do it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS GETTING GOOD Y"ALL! Now that I remember where I was going with this, and school is out for the month, I will try my darndest to get the next chapter out!
> 
> THANKS FOR CLICKING, STICKING AROUND, READING AND YOUR KUDOS/FOLLOWS!


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